Man clings to window bars as burning debris rains down

A man has dangled from the window of a 25th floor apartment in a desperate bid to escape a fire raging above him in Chongqing, China.

Onlookers watched in horror as the man climbed out of his apartment and began clambering down to the unit below.

Footage shows him clinging desperately to security bars blocking the windows as burning pieces of debris rain down on him.

Unable to move any further down, he scales across the apartment to a window without security grates.

The window is finally smashed open as firefighters rescue him before he became too weak to hold on.

The People's Daily news agency reports it is unknown what sparked Wednesday's fire.

"The cause of the blaze is under investigation," it said.